Southern Plain
2024
Southern Plain
The Southern Plain is the area where many victims of the AIDS epidemic were buried in mass graves, starting in 1989. This area is now at high risk of being impacted by sea-level rise.
According to climate studies conducted by the city, the water table here is projected to rise to 9 feet below the surface by 2050 and to just over 4 feet by 2100. For this reason, new graves should not be deeper than 3 feet below the surface, and caskets should never be stacked.
The rising water table will soon cause existing graves to shift, potentially accelerating erosion. To address this, our proposal utilizes deep-rooted prairie and wet-meadow species to anchor both existing and proposed graves in place. These species will replace the heavily mown, shallow-rooted lawn grass the city currently maintains on the island, providing a nature-based solution for stabilization.
The rising water table will soon cause existing graves to shift, potentially accelerating erosion. To address this, our proposal utilizes deep-rooted prairie and wet-meadow species to anchor both existing and proposed graves in place. These species will replace the heavily mown, shallow-rooted lawn grass the city currently maintains on the island, providing a nature-based solution for stabilization.
Impact of sea level rise
Current high tide relative to the city's proposed mass burial locations
This image displays the former location of the Hart Island Hospital, an area the city projects using for future mass burials in its 2022 burial capacity study. However, this location is already relatively low-lying and presents environmental risks.
The image is based on a LiDAR scan (taken between 2017 and 2019), which was used to create a precise surface model of the island. The scan incidentally captured the city in the process of closing Plot 68, a recently closed infant burial plot visible in the upper part of the image.
During the 2022 study, contractors also dug two test pits here. Test Pit 32, which is visible on the section line, hit groundwater at only 7 feet below the surface. This finding clearly demonstrates that the water table is already high in this proposed burial area.
Landscape of Hope
This project was conducted in collaboration with landscape architecture researchers at The Ohio State University Knowlton School and was made possible with support of the Lily Auchicloss Foundation and through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Landscape Design Team Members: Jake Boswell, Jack Gruber, Brendan Ayer and Melinda Hunt
©2025 The Hart Island Project
